


Come On, Come Here, Come Home

by seasalticecream32



Series: Punk!Merlin AUs [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, They're nearly graduated here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 03:43:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5148998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasalticecream32/pseuds/seasalticecream32
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: I’m always fighting and getting in trouble at school so people avoid me. You frequent the small ice cream shop my parent owns and know how kind I am to children and elderly people but I don’t realize this.</p><p>Merlin bypasses his car at school one day and, curious, Arthur follows him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come On, Come Here, Come Home

**Author's Note:**

> I'm obsessive and wrote this on the same day that I wrote almost 10000 words in other projects as well. I was just inspired and had to get it done. Please, please comment because it took a lot out of me to get this down.

Merlin’s scarves hid bruised jawlines and his jackets hid scratched and bitten arms. His nose was crooked from being broken so many times, and the nurses knew him on a first name and favorite lollipop basis. He never combed his hair right and he spoke like lightning in the hallways, knocking down even the biggest bullies before they had the chance to punch his lights out.

That didn’t keep them from fighting him behind the school or filling his car with piss filled water balloons, but at least he knew he hurt them in the heart, where it stayed forever and ever.

The smell in his car would only last a week at the most, and then he’d either gotten used to it or it had gone away.

Possibly the one thing about Merlin that didn’t sound like it had come from an angsty teenager’s first novel was Arthur Pendragon, and that’s only because the Arthur Pendragon story sounded like he’d come straight from an 80’s rom com to sweep Merlin off his feet. Either way, Merlin wanted a new writer. This one couldn’t get his story straight.

But that was neither here nor there, because Merlin was walking _past_ his car, and that’s not something Arthur had ever seen him do.

Merlin _lived_ (literally) in his car. Leaving it at the school was practically unheard of for him.

Still, Merlin kept walking.

Arthur almost called out for him, but then, with the way Merlin was looking around, he wasn’t sure Merlin wanted anyone to follow him.

For a second, Arthur considered letting Merlin on his way to deal with whatever business he had by himself. Then he remembered the bruises on Merlin’s jaw and the marks on his arms and the way he’d looked skittish all day, and figured it would be best to follow him. Besides, if it ended up being something too personal, Arthur could always just leave him to it and pretend like nothing had happened.

So that’s how Arthur ended up following Merlin through five blocks and three stop signs, looking increasingly strange as he ducked and turned to try to keep from being discovered.

He succeeded long enough to see Merlin turn in to a…

An ice cream store?

He had expected anything else.

This looked hardly worth keeping secret. Maybe he’d mistaken Merlin’s suspicious looks to the side and—

No, no. There was a man handing Merlin an apron and that man looked a lot like Merlin in a the face and the shoulders and oh no.

Arthur was getting a look at the ever elusive 'Merlin’s Dad'. He wasn’t supposed to be here.

This was all bad.

Arthur couldn’t seem to make his feet not move forward. He didn’t want to go meet Merlin’s dad. Merlin would kill him. His dad was the whole reason that Merlin was homeless and he didn’t seem to be good for anything and Merlin never wanted to talk about him and that probably meant that Merlin would absolutely, positively, definitely kill him if he followed him to his dad’s shop.

Except…

Well…

Merlin’s dad was the whole reason he was homeless. And he didn’t seem good for anything and Merlin hardly ever talked about him.

If Arthur didn’t follow Merlin now, he’d probably never ever learn anything about Merlin’s father.

So, Arthur slipped into the convenience store across the street and grabbed a big jacket and a paper, sticking a pair of sunglasses on his stack and a beanie for good measure.

Then he donned his disguise and crossed to the ice cream shop, sitting at one of the tables outside. He peeked over the paper and saw Merlin in his blue apron, a smiling ice cream cone on the front happily telling everyone to “HAVE A GREAT DAY!!”

At first, Merlin’s bad mood was obvious. He was deadpan when he took orders and he moved with the sharp jerky motions that he only ever used when he was really humiliated.

But slowly, and especially after his dad went to the back for extended periods, Arthur watched him start to smile at the kids. He didn’t know what Merlin said to them, but they laughed and their mother’s blushed and one little girl came out talking about fighting dragons with her plastic spoon.

It was too adorably heartwarming, but probably his favorite was when an old man came in and pointed to a cone and Merlin began signing at him, a big grin on his face.

Arthur watched slackjawed, paper forgotten on the table as Merlin and this old man started talking in full blown sign language, both of them laughing. Arthur watched as Merlin refused the man’s money, and the old man nearly cried as he walked out with his vanilla cone.

Merlin was watching the old man leave when his eyes connected with Arthur’s and he scowled.

Arthur blushed, but hastily picked the paper back up, ducking his head underneath it just as another customer walked in.

Sometime, a long while after Arthur had followed his boyfriend to his secret job, Arthur woke to a very cold face and a horrible pain in his neck.

“Hey clotpole. What would you have done if I’d have left you out here to sleep?”

“Woke up very confused in the morning.” Arthur mumbled. “You know I sleep like death.”

Merlin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, tell me about it. What are you doing here?”

“Well…” Arthur felt his cheeks heat up. “Um, I saw you walk past your car and you know, I figured it’d be ok to follow you and make sure you didn’t get in to trouble.”

“Yes, I can definitely see how you’d think I was going to get into a lot of trouble at an ice cream shop. They’re known for being very dangerous.” Merlin glowered at Arthur and Arthur shrunk further down his seat.

“Well, jerk, I was concerned. I didn’t know you were going to an ice cream shop when I started following you.” Arthur scowled back, deciding to sit up straight. “Actually, this is your fault. I was worried because _someone_ has been acting super shifty all day and then you ran off without telling anyone and left your car in the parking lot, and I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to go out and get into any more fights. At least not until your bruises heal up anyway.”

“You were that worried over a bit of moodiness? That doesn’t explain why you’re sleeping outside.” Merlin crossed his arms, but his expression had melted from angry to grudgingly pleased.

“Well, I saw your dad…” Arthur winced as Merlin threw his hands up in exasperation. “I figured, you know, you never talk about him and you said he’s pretty bad, and all and this would be the only way I’d ever learn anything about him. So here I am.”

“Did you learn a lot?” Merlin looked down, eyes lowered and bottom lip pouting out.

“Yes.” Arthur grinned, standing and hissing as his joints all popped. Sleeping in a chair in the cold was not exactly his best idea.

“You couldn’t have possibly, he stayed the whole time in the back on the phone with his—”

Arthur cut off Merlin’s rant with a kiss, tugging him forward by his scarf. Arthur grinned when Merlin bit his lip.

“I wasn’t done talking.”

“I was here the whole night, remember? I know he left you to man the front alone. But I never said I learned a lot about him.” Arthur laughed when Merlin blushed, his ears turning a fetching shade of pink. “You make little kids laugh.”

“You know you can’t tell any of the guys at school about this.”

“And you give old guys free ice cream.”

“They’ll never let me live it down.”

“And you look absolutely adorable in ice cream themed clothing.”

“Really, I will curse you or something.”

“I’m going to buy you some pajamas that say ‘have a great day’ on them.” Arthur pulled Merlin closer, kissing down his jaw. “And a tee shirt to wear with it that has an ice cream man.”

“That sounds a little weird.”

“You should see how cute you look right now.” Arthur chuckled and slipped his hand in Merlin’s.

“Merlin?” An unfamiliar voice called from the store.

Merlin dropped Arthur’s hand and took a quick step away. Arthur’s eyebrows shot up but he didn’t close the gap. Oh?

“Yeah Dad?”

“Did you take stock yet? I think we’re almost out of—” The same man from earlier walked out, pen tucked behind his ear and hair up in a net. “Oh. Is this one of your friends?”

Merlin’s blush had tripled in intensity, and now Arthur was wondering if he was going to start lighting up the street. “Yeah, this is Arthur.”

“He’s mentioned you before! Nice to meet you.” The man’s grin stretched across his whole face, and he stuck out a hand. “I’m Balinor, Merlin’s dad. I don’t get to see him much.”

“Yeah.” Merlin’s voice was flat, his hands clenched into his sweatshirt. “Well, dad, we best get going.”

“What? But you just got here. Come on in, we can share the last bit of rocky road.” Balinor waved Arthur in, and Arthur gave Merlin a glance. Merlin rolled his eyes again and Arthur assumed that meant ‘go inside’ so he did.

Apparently, Merlin’s eye roll had _not_ meant go inside, because Merlin spent a full minute glaring at them from outside the window, arms crossed and hair a mess.

“He really doesn’t look happy about this.”

“My son never looks happy.” Balinor shook his head. “I think it’s all the teenage hormones.”

“Um, I don’t think that’s it.” Arthur frowned. “Have you seen his car lately?”

“Actually, he said his car needed new brakes is why he needed the job here. Apparently his fancy teacher can’t afford to fix those for him too.”

“His… fancy teacher?” Arthur looked out to where Merlin was pacing. “Who’s that?”

“Gaius?” Balinor shrugged. “Gaius is an old friend of mine, and apparently he’s been letting Merlin stay with him while I get the business together.”

“That’s right. Gaius was a great friend of my mother, and his house smells like old cats and mothballs.” Merlin said from the doorway, hands tucked into his black jacket. He wouldn’t wear actual leather, so Arthur had bought him a faux leather jacket for Christmas, which Merlin had insisted had been far too much and Arthur had insisted on giving him early any way because if he waited until Christmas Merlin would freeze to death.

“Which he tells me, incessantly. Sort of.”

“Does it irritate you?” Merlin leaned against Arthur’s chair, his hip nudging Arthur’s shoulder. “I mean, that I keep telling you Gaius smells like mothballs.”

“It bothers me more that you always seem to be out when I come by, honestly.” Balinor snapped back, and he and Merlin glared at each other. Arthur shifted as the two seemed to face off, neither of them talking as their expressions grew stormier.

“So, how are the twins doing?” Merlin said, breaking the silence and tapping his fingers against his arm. “And the cat?”

“They’re all doing fine, thanks for asking, Merlin.”

“So, um, well, Merlin’s been uh, getting good grades?” Arthur coughed.

“Yes, Gaius says he’s the top in the class in Chemistry. And I’ve heard he’s rather good at reading and art too. Seems he’s a jack of all trades.”

“And a master of many.” Arthur rubbed his eyes and willed himself to just shut up, but his mouth wouldn’t listen. “And now he’s got a job! I mean, he’s really doing good lately.”

“Could’ve been working for me all along.” Balinor nodded, and Arthur winced. He could just feel the anger radiating from Merlin.

“Yeah, well, hard to work in a place if I don’t know it exists. But you know, it’s nice to be surprised every now and again. You’re full of surprises.”

“You know, Merlin, I think we should leave because, well…” Arthur tried to think of a good reason, but none were forthcoming, “Well, this is incredibly uncomfortable and not at all what I thought meeting your dad would be like, and I really want to leave.”

“Whatever you say, love.” Merlin grabbed Arthur by the hand, threw a peace sign up at his father, and stomped out the door. “Say goodbye to your bisexual son, Dad!”

Arthur walked with Merlin an entire block before either of them spoke again. Arthur was the one to eventually break the silence, having pondered over how to broach the subject as they walked. “So, Merlin, do you think coming out to your father in a bout of anger was the best idea?”

“I don’t care what he thinks. Did you know he _adopted_ his two kids? They’re both the sweetest little girls, but you know, I just… He didn’t want me at all, but he adopted two little girls. I can understand, you know, if he’d met a woman and fallen in love and they’d had children and all that. But you know, he didn’t do that. He just… he wanted kids, just not me.” Merlin stopped, shoulders hunched.

Arthur was glad it was late and that no one else was out. He was fairly certain his boyfriend was about to have a breakdown in the middle of the street. “Why are you working for him?”

“Do you know how incredibly difficult it is to get a job when you’re homeless, Arthur?” Merlin sniffled, shoulders shaking. “I mean, one of the first questions on the application is for your address, and when you can’t put anything there then you usually don’t get hired.”

“Why not put Gaius’s address?”

“Gaius doesn’t like for me to tell people I live with him because he could get in trouble with the school.” Merlin kicked his feet on the sidewalk. His entire body seemed to slump forward. “There’s not a lot of options. I couldn’t afford to turn down the offer. And dad only asked because he doesn’t have anyone to work for him and he can pay me minimum wage and I won’t argue.”

“He _is_ paying you minimum wage, right, Merlin?” Arthur asked, bumping his shoulder with Merlin’s. “If he’s not, I’ll gladly fight him for you. After all, I’ve got to defend your honor and what not.”

“What does my honor have to do with anything?” Merlin snorted.

“Well, he _does_ know I’m your boyfriend now. I have to fight for your honor at some point. Thanks for that by the way. If he tells Gaius, I’m done for. Gaius will tell dad for sure. Those two hang out all the time.”

Merlin shook his head. “He hasn’t told Uther I’m homeless yet, I doubt he’d tell your secret.”

“I hope you’re right.” Arthur sighed, pulling Merlin against him with an arm over his shoulder. “Want to come to mine tonight? It’s got to beat sleeping in that car again.”

“No one put anything gross in it did they? That was the worst last time.”

“Oh, no, don’t worry. Elyan found those guys. Apparently Cedric wasn’t happy with you beating the shit out of his big buddy Sigan and also, he is unbelievably full of piss. Elyan didn’t even have to actually punch him before he just let it loose all over the cafeteria floor.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that your father allows a lot of violence to happen at this school?” Merlin asked, chuckling.

“Well, he does have Morgana as a daughter. I figure he’s pretty used to violence by now.”

“She’s not that bad” Merlin stopped, tugging Arthur until they faced each other. “Come here.”

“What’s up?” Arthur asked, eyebrows raised as Merlin pulled him into a hug.

“Thanks.” Merlin leaned in and kissed Arthur sweetly. “For falling asleep outside the ice cream shop.”

“Come on, Merlin. Come home with me.” Arthur kissed him again.


End file.
